NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
“The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart” host Jon Stewart criticized former Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday over her explanation for not selecting then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as her 2024 running mate.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin argued that the reason voters have lost trust in the Democratic Party is because they feel elected officials “don’t actually believe the s— we’re selling them,” prompting Stewart to draw a parallel to Harris’ explanation for why she didn’t choose Buttigieg as her running mate.
“To my point, in [her new book ‘107 Days’] when she says, ‘I didn’t go with Pete Buttigieg because he’s gay and that’d be too far,’ and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, it’s actually reverse affirmative action.’ It’s like, ‘What?'” Stewart said.
KAMALA HARRIS’ BOOK, MEDIA TOUR SLAMMED BY LIBERAL CRITICS AS ‘EMBARRASSING’ AND ‘UNHELPFUL’
Jon Stewart on his podcast “The Weekly Show” on Sept. 25, 2025. (Screenshot/”The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart”)
Harris has been facing backlash over the past week after she revealed in her book “107 Days” that Buttigieg was too big of a “risk” as a gay man.
“We were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man. Part of me wanted to say, ‘Screw it, let’s just do it.’ But knowing what was at stake, it was too big of a risk,” she wrote. “And I think Pete also knew that — to our mutual sadness.”
RAHM EMANUEL SAYS HARRIS WAS WRONG TO SKIP BUTTIGIEG AS RUNNING MATE, FAILED TO ‘TRUST IN YOUR GUT’
Stewart and Martin argued that such inconsistencies — for example, Harris supporting LGBT causes yet passing over Buttigieg due to his sexuality — damaged the Democratic Party’s credibility.
Then-Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a meeting with Pete Buttigieg, then-secretary of transportation, left, during the U.S. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) special summit at the State Department in Washington on Friday, May 13, 2022. (Yuri Gripas/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
While speaking about the importance of authenticity in politics, “The Weekly Show” host noted that NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has been “able to identify the crux of the issue, and very simply present some ideas that might be able to battle that.”
“It’s simpler than authenticity, and the messenger, and the metrics,” he added.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
“Well, I do think it’s simpler than that, because at the end of the day, right, we could have plenty of people who are saying the exact same thing, who aren’t believed by the voters. At the end of the day, this is where authenticity matters. It’s not just saying something, right?” Martin responded.
Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin, standing alongside Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker at an event in Chicago on Aug. 5, 2025. (DNC)
Martin continued, mocking elected officials who project a false image of strength but fail to back it up with action.
“Everyone’s getting up giving these fiery speeches. You know, you got male elected officials growing beards because they want to show strength and masculinity. It’s b——-,” he railed. “Strength, it’s action. It’s action and it’s authenticity. Do you really, really believe the s— you’re selling?”
Fox News Digital reached out to representatives of Harris for a comment.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP